'Iolani begins new era with 27-6 victory over Baldwin

HS Football

Aug 11

By Wes Nakama

For the first time in 36 years, someone other than Wendell Look walked the makai sidelines of Eddie Hamada Field as head coach of the 'Iolani School football team Saturday in the 61st Annual Father Bray Memorial Classic.

But similar to Look's teams from 1991 through 2025, the Raiders rode an opportunistic defense, diverse offense and solid special teams to a season-opening 27-6 victory over visiting Baldwin. The familiar-looking brand was largely by design, according to new 'Iolani head coach Pat Samsonas.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Samsonas, a 1993 Raiders alum who played for Look and also was a former assistant under him. "We wanted a smooth transition, so we probably kept 90 percent of (the system), especially on offense. We didn't want to teach all new things to 50 guys. So we kept a lot of it the same."

That system worked well for Look, who guided 'Iolani to nine Division I/II state championships and retired in April as the second-winningest coach in Hawai'i history, behind only Cal Lee of Saint Louis/Kalani.

Things started badly for Baldwin literally from the beginning, as a muffed opening kickoff return catch pinned the Bears on their own 1-yard line. Three plays later, Zack Bagoyo applied heavy pressure on a safety blitz and forced a high, slow lofty pass off the back foot that defensive back Kela Briones intercepted and returned eight yards to the end zone for a quick pick-6. Ty Mitsunaga's extra point made it 7-0.

Ayden Teranishi scored on a 7-yard run on the second play of the second quarter and Mitsunaga tacked on the PAT to make it 14-0. The Bears later advanced to the 1-yard line on second-and-goal, but an incomplete pass on fourth down turned the ball over to the Raiders with one second remaining, and 'Iolani took the 14-0 lead into halftime.

The Raiders made it 20-0 on Nixon Ling's 14-yard pass to Aka Lau Kong after Ling had lost and then regained his footing and then launched a rainbow just over a defender's reach into the hands of Lau Kong in the back left corner of the end zone. The extra point attempt was blocked.

Baldwin finally got on the scoreboard with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter on Jackson Sebastian's 1-yard touchdown run, but Joshua Griffin burst through the middle and blocked the extra point leaving the score at 20-6. 'Iolani then responded with an 84-yard scoring drive capped by Ling's 5-yard TD pass to receiver Scotty Webb on the final play of the third quarter. That score was largely set up by a 60-yard catch-and-run on an inside screen pass from Ling to Jadon Anzai.

Ling, a sophomore, showed overall command of the offense throughout the game and was relieved in the fourth quarter by junior Adrian "A.P." Perkins, who started several games last year in place of an injured C.J. Villanueva and put together a nice drive to end the game before running out the clock on the final down near the goal line.

Ling finished with 13 completions in 19 attempts, for 175 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

"He did OK, he made some mistakes but he's a sophomore, so he'll learn," Samsonas said. "And then A.P. came in and finished the job, so that was good to see. We're going to give both quarterbacks a chance to see what they can do."

Anzai led the ground game with 68 yards rushing on 10 carries.

"I was happy with our defense, they almost pitched a shutout," Samsonas said. "(Defensive coordinator) Richie (Torres) has those guys dialed in."

Samsonas said the Raiders' biggest issue Saturday was 10 penalties, three of which were personal fouls.

"That's not us, or at least it's not supposed to be who we are," Samsonas said. "We gotta clean that up. We have a lot of work to do."

As for taking over for Look and his first game as 'Iolani head coach, Samsonas said he felt comfortable largely due to the strong support he received from Look and the school community in general. The entire Raiders team and coaching staff attended a campus dinner Friday night to honor the legacy of Father Bray -- 'Iolani's first athletic director (1932-52) who established varsity sports at the school and set the foundation for its "One Team" culture -- and remind the current players about the tradition they now are entrusted to perpetuate.

On game day, Samsonas said he felt the support everywhere he looked.

Former Honolulu Fire Chief Frank Kaho'ohanohano, a 1951 'Iolani graduate who played for Father Bray, performed the coin toss, which the Raiders won.

"From the time I walked into the (athletic complex) until the time I walked out after the game, I got nothing but support from everybody," said Samsonas, who was a head coach at Kaiser in the early 2000's. "It all came back quickly. I felt at home."

'Iolani will play host to Southern California power Edison High School (Huntington Beach) at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

"That will be an even bigger test for us," Samsonas said. "We'll see even more of where we're at from that game."

Photos: Lori McKeown